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msarno's review against another edition
5.0
What a wildly inventive and imaginative book! I loved the way it explored friendship, loyalty, and finding inner strength. I can’t wait for the next in the series.
morgandhu's review against another edition
4.0
Peasprout Chen and her younger brother Cricket live in the land of Shin, where wu liu, the beautiful and deadly art of martial skating, was invented. Peasprout, who is fourteen and a prodigy at wu liu, and as such, she and Cricket have been selected by the Dowager Empress herself to study at the Pearl Famous Academy of Skate and Sword in a goodwill exchange - a mission that carries much responsibility, for the independant city-state of Pearl has taken preeminence in the great martial art and Peasprout is here in Pearl not just to learn all the secrets of wu liu but to do better than all the Pearlian students and restore the honour of Shin.
This is the premise behind Henry Lien’s delightful Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword, a fantasy for children with the spirit of anime and the feel of one of those classic children’s books that grows organically from a special story invented to tell a beloved child to a tale that enchants children everywhere. It’s set up as a traditional boarding school novel, with the protagonist as outsider forced into competition with the school bully and persecuted by the bully’s clique, with stern teachers who never understand the difficulties facing the protagonist, and unexpected allies.
Yet underneath this surface lie some dark secrets that could spell serious danger for Peasprout and Cricket, who are both innocent of the political machinations that lie behind this ‘goodwill exchange’ but may nonetheless suffer the consequences of intrigues they had no part in.
I’m really looking forward to reading the sequel, Peasprout Chen: Battle of Champions, because she’s a character that it’s hard not to love, and I know I want to see more of her.
This is the premise behind Henry Lien’s delightful Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword, a fantasy for children with the spirit of anime and the feel of one of those classic children’s books that grows organically from a special story invented to tell a beloved child to a tale that enchants children everywhere. It’s set up as a traditional boarding school novel, with the protagonist as outsider forced into competition with the school bully and persecuted by the bully’s clique, with stern teachers who never understand the difficulties facing the protagonist, and unexpected allies.
Yet underneath this surface lie some dark secrets that could spell serious danger for Peasprout and Cricket, who are both innocent of the political machinations that lie behind this ‘goodwill exchange’ but may nonetheless suffer the consequences of intrigues they had no part in.
I’m really looking forward to reading the sequel, Peasprout Chen: Battle of Champions, because she’s a character that it’s hard not to love, and I know I want to see more of her.
farahmendlesohn's review against another edition
3.0
A rather good fantasy world and plot marred by the sexism. If you like “girls hate other girls” fiction you won’t mind this but I can’t bear it. Even the final friendship at the end didn’t work for me because it was pulled out of a hat.
sayobel's review against another edition
5.0
Rich, Gorgeous Perfection!
I am currently overwhelmed with how much I love this book! The writing is lush and delicious, the characters are second to none, the story and worldbuilding are unparalleled, and I am a very, very satisfied reader. This is exactly the kind of book I want middle readers to get as much of as possible - everyone can learn something new about themselves in its pages.
I am currently overwhelmed with how much I love this book! The writing is lush and delicious, the characters are second to none, the story and worldbuilding are unparalleled, and I am a very, very satisfied reader. This is exactly the kind of book I want middle readers to get as much of as possible - everyone can learn something new about themselves in its pages.
readingrobin's review against another edition
4.0
Going in, I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. Martial arts mixed with ice skating sounded a bit too far-fetched for me, as strange as that sounds, but, once you make yourself comfortable in the world, it grows on you. Lien creates such an immersable world here, though I wish we could have had seen at least some moments of Peasprout in Shin so that we could see the differences in cultures and power dynamics a bit better, but maybe we'll see that in the future.
At first, I thought things came a little too easy for Peasprout. She excelled so much in whatever she did that it was starting to become a tad unbelievable. However, it becomes clear that Peasprout's struggle in the book doesn't come from her academics, but from the prejudices she encounters and basically being an outsider in this new world.
I'm very interested to see what Lien will touch on in the next installment and how this world can become even bigger.
At first, I thought things came a little too easy for Peasprout. She excelled so much in whatever she did that it was starting to become a tad unbelievable. However, it becomes clear that Peasprout's struggle in the book doesn't come from her academics, but from the prejudices she encounters and basically being an outsider in this new world.
I'm very interested to see what Lien will touch on in the next installment and how this world can become even bigger.
bethmitcham's review against another edition
4.0
Girl goes to magic school and has adventures, only the magic is ice skating/martial arts!
yuna's review against another edition
3.0
I liked a lot of the ideas/concepts in this, but the execution didn't work out for me. Needed more background to explain the motivations of some of the "big bads," and there were several instances where the conflict felt forced or too convenient rather than earned.
tashrow's review against another edition
5.0
Peasprout and her brother, Cricket, are sent from the country of Shin to the glorious city of Pearl to attend the Pearl Famous Academy of Skate and Sword. They are the first students from Shin to attend the school that teaches wu liu, a combinations of martial arts and figure skating. In Pearl, the floors and buildings are all built of pearl, a material that can be skated on. Peasprout has won many Shin awards for wu liu and is confident that she can become top of her class. Still, she has a lot to learn, including many of the more modern Pearl wu liu combinations. Peasprout soon gets the attention of the class bully and another girl who remains always apart and distant, even from her own twin brother. As the competition heats up, a vandal starts to attack the buildings of pearl on the campus and Peasprout as an outsider is the number one suspect!
I cannot stress enough how utterly captivating this children’s book is. It is like reading an anime in novel form or a manga in text. It has the same humor as those other art forms, combining wry laughs with epic battles and races. The pace of the book is brisk, the action scenes almost breathtakingly fast. Throughout there is a strong sense of place and one falls in love with Pearl and the Academy as much as with the characters.
And what characters they are! There is the confident Peasprout who rarely doubts that she is doing anything wrong, but when she does she grows and learns in an honest and organic way. Cricket is small and quiet but also gifted in a different way than his sister. The twin siblings offer Peasprout a chance at first love but also a great tug of rivalry and friendship. And everyone needs a good villain to round it all out.
A bright and unique novel that is pure joy to read. Appropriate for ages 9-12.
I cannot stress enough how utterly captivating this children’s book is. It is like reading an anime in novel form or a manga in text. It has the same humor as those other art forms, combining wry laughs with epic battles and races. The pace of the book is brisk, the action scenes almost breathtakingly fast. Throughout there is a strong sense of place and one falls in love with Pearl and the Academy as much as with the characters.
And what characters they are! There is the confident Peasprout who rarely doubts that she is doing anything wrong, but when she does she grows and learns in an honest and organic way. Cricket is small and quiet but also gifted in a different way than his sister. The twin siblings offer Peasprout a chance at first love but also a great tug of rivalry and friendship. And everyone needs a good villain to round it all out.
A bright and unique novel that is pure joy to read. Appropriate for ages 9-12.
riotbatgrrl's review against another edition
I was tempted to rate this higher than I otherwise would because there was a pearl-clutching review on here that was all, "THIS BOOK IS NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN BECAUSE SAME-SEX ATTRACTION AND GENDER-BENDING" and I just... Stop??? Preventing kids from reading about LGBTQ characters and gender-nonconforming characters is actively damaging to them????
The content of this book was entirely appropriate for the age-level it's aimed at. There's a very gentle romance that doesn't go beyond holding hands and the thought of kissing (but no kiss happens), and even the "topless fight scene" mentioned by SLJ as THE reason to not buy the book (but not mentioned in aforementioned Goodreads review) was fine -- it wasn't titillating or sexual in any way (and none of the characters took it as such), nor was it described graphically (or really described at all beyond the basics so that you know what happened). It was an obvious depiction of an escalation of bullying, which the character in question overcomes. Reminded me of a similar scene in Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass.
Anyway, actual thoughts about the book:
I think Henry Lien has lived in the world of Pearl and Shin for a very long time. The world-building was mostly great, but there were moments where there was an assumed familiarity that the readers did not yet have. I really did love the concept of a figure-skating/kung-fu mashup, but it wasn't always clear to me what the various moves were supposed to look like. Peasprout was infuriating and so wrapped up in protecting herself and her brother -- but mostly herself -- that she smashed his dreams on purpose. The political intrigue was pretty interesting, though it took Peasprout an embarrassingly long time to realize that the Dowager Empress was using her as a pawn. I guessed the big twist about halfway through and it made some of the interactions in the second half very sad. Peasprout really only showed signs of character development after the main conflict was resolved.
The content of this book was entirely appropriate for the age-level it's aimed at. There's a very gentle romance that doesn't go beyond holding hands and the thought of kissing (but no kiss happens), and even the "topless fight scene" mentioned by SLJ as THE reason to not buy the book (but not mentioned in aforementioned Goodreads review) was fine -- it wasn't titillating or sexual in any way (and none of the characters took it as such), nor was it described graphically (or really described at all beyond the basics so that you know what happened). It was an obvious depiction of an escalation of bullying, which the character in question overcomes. Reminded me of a similar scene in Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass.
Anyway, actual thoughts about the book:
I think Henry Lien has lived in the world of Pearl and Shin for a very long time. The world-building was mostly great, but there were moments where there was an assumed familiarity that the readers did not yet have. I really did love the concept of a figure-skating/kung-fu mashup, but it wasn't always clear to me what the various moves were supposed to look like. Peasprout was infuriating and so wrapped up in protecting herself and her brother -- but mostly herself -- that she smashed his dreams on purpose. The political intrigue was pretty interesting, though it took Peasprout an embarrassingly long time to realize that the Dowager Empress was using her as a pawn. I guessed the big twist about halfway through and it made some of the interactions in the second half very sad. Peasprout really only showed signs of character development after the main conflict was resolved.